#giorgio-chiellini

#giorgio-chiellini

When Matthijs de Ligt traded pasta for schnitzel and Giorgio Chiellini hopped on a westbound plane to gallivant in Los Angeles, I was worried.Very worried.For a brief moment, the Juventus center back room looked thinner than the icing allocated to the last cinnamon roll.The known quantities were Leonardo Bonucci, the 35-year-old veteran who looked shakier at the back every time out; Daniele Rugani, who I'm told is still on the team although I seem to remember he played a few games in France at some point; and Danilo, who at that juncture wasn't even fully classified as a day-in, day-out center back.

With one thunderous header right in front of the goal line, Federico Gatti drastically changed the potential for a Juventus run to the Europa League final.Yes ... Federico Gatti.A defender.Who didn't even start Thursday night's game.But there was Gatti, At the death.To bail his team out.It could have been set up for a big-time uphill battle heading into next week's second leg of the Europa League semifinals against Sevilla in Spain.

Juventus are in absolute turmoil.Somehow, the Bianconeri have managed to make it all about them during an unprecedented winter World Cup that is viewed as the most controversial one yet.The entire Juventus board suddenly resigned in late November and only one of them is staying on to manage the period while a new board is set up.

Leonardo Bonucci just celebrated his 500th appearance in a Juventus jersey, putting him in a small and elite group of players at the club who have hit that rather significant number in their career.They are some of the biggest and most memorable names to have ever worn the Juventus shirt, and now Bonucci is the sixth player to cross the 500-appearance mark.

Seneca says that if you don't know the port by which you're sailing, no wind is favorable, but I tell you that if you cannot change course when blown by a wayward gust, you're already lost.More than halfway into a piece about what the most recent results might have to say about Max Allegri's ability to change, the wind changed.

Juventus made it five straight Serie A wins as Moise Kean's goal was enough to see off bottom-placed hosts Hellas Verona on Thursday.Verona had lost eight consecutive league games while Massimiliano Allegri's men had won four in a row.However, Salvatore Bocchetti's men made it difficult for Juve and it looked as if they had a chance of earning an important point.

Coming into Saturday night's game against Lecce, Nicolo Fagioli had played all of 71 minutes in Serie A this season.He was very much the last name on the midfield depth chart, and his playing time was reflective of that fact.Heck, even Nicolo Rovella, now very much on loan at Monza for the 2022-23 season, almost had as many minutes in a Juventus shirt as Fagioli.